


Out of the Water

by jetplane



Series: ark of bulrushes [1]
Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: Accidental Baby Acquisition, Adopted Children, Adoption, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Autism, Autism Spectrum, Autistic Spencer Reid, Canon-Typical Violence, Child Abandonment, Child Spencer Reid, Childhood, Father-Son Relationship, Fatherhood, Gen, Non-Graphic Violence, Orphans, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Parent-Child Relationship, Spencer Reid is a Rossi, Team as Family
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-19
Updated: 2020-08-31
Packaged: 2021-02-13 11:44:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 13,616
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21493750
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jetplane/pseuds/jetplane
Summary: “You find anything incriminating?” Rossi asked.“I was able to differentiate between two distinct voices, two authors. I found various idiosyncratic words, phrases, punctuation, and orthography within the blog entries consistent with each separate person, words like ‘soda’ and ‘pop’. One guy uses dashes while the other uses ellipses.” Reid chuckled to himself as he turned back to the crime board.“Where’d you find this kid?” the police officer whispered to Rossi.Rossi leaned closer to him. “He was left in a basket on the steps of the FBI,” he whispered conspiratorially.(04x12)(AU in which Spencer was actually abandoned as an infant and raised by David Rossi)
Relationships: David Rossi & Jason Gideon, Jason Gideon & Spencer Reid, Maeve Donovan & Spencer Reid, Spencer Reid & David Rossi
Series: ark of bulrushes [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1567840
Comments: 179
Kudos: 1262
Collections: Mixed_Fics





	1. Chosen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rossi accidentally acquires a baby

Rossi sighed as he looked out from the steps of the FBI building. He had a rare break between cases, and he had no idea what to do with it. Jason had suggested that he go outside, likely just to annoy him, but Dave had taken him up on the suggestion anyways. He figured that as soon as he tried to leave, he’d get called in on another case, and that would at least give him something to do. 

So as Rossi waited for his next case, he profiled the people around him. He took in their clothes, their expressions, and the way they moved. There were the commuters traveling to work - bankers, secretaries, businessmen, lawyers. There were parents taking their children to school, and tourists visiting the city for the first time. Nothing out of the ordinary. 

Nothing, that is, until Dave spotted a haggard young woman climbing the steps to the FBI. Her eyes anxiously searched for something, but they seemed unfocused. Like she wasn’t quite seeing what was around her. In her arms she cradled a blanket-wrapped bundle. 

Intrigued, Rossi took a few steps closer to figure out more about this woman. She paced back and forth on a single step, muttering something to herself. Despite the cold, she wasn’t wearing any shoes, and around her wrist was a band that looked suspiciously like a hospital bracelet. Dave put all this information together and came to a fairly obvious conclusion: this woman wasn’t well, and she needed help. 

“Hello? Ma’am?” he ventured, slowly inching closer to the woman. She turned and looked up to him. Some of the fog cleared from her eyes.

“Ma’am?” Rossi asked again. “Are you alright?”

She smiled with what seemed to be relief. “You’re just the person I’ve been looking for,” she breathed. 

“I’m sorry?” Dave asked, confused. Clearly, this woman wasn’t going to be easy to get through to. “Ma’am, is there someone I can call for you?” He tried to catch a glimpse of her hospital band. All he could see were the last three letters of her name. EID. 

The woman shook her head. “I can’t take care of him. But you can.” She shoved the bundle at Rossi, and he took it from her automatically. Then he looked down at it and gasped. 

Wrapped in the blankets was a baby. A newborn, no more than a few days old, and fast asleep. “Ma’am!” he protested, looking back up at the woman. But she was already gone. 

“Ma’am?” Rossi asked again. He looked up and down the steps. There was no sign of her anywhere. 

Rossi hurried down to the street as quickly as he could, cradling the baby to his chest. He continued to call out for the woman, but got nothing except for a few strange looks from passersby as he asked if any of them had seen a barefoot woman with a hospital bracelet. 

“Dave?” a voice asked from behind him. Rossi spun around to see Gideon giving him a confused look. “When I said you should go outside and talk to people, this wasn’t exactly what I had in mind. Whose baby is that, anyway?”

“I don’t know,” Rossi replied frantically. “She just gave it to me and then ran off. You have to help me find her.”

Gideon raised an eyebrow. “Very funny, Dave. Is that Harrison’s new baby? Or Miller’s?”

“Jason, I’m not joking!” Gideon immediately sobered up when he saw his friend’s serious expression. “Some woman just came up to me and told me that she couldn’t take care of her baby, and then she handed it to me and disappeared.”

“Which way did she go?”

Rossi shook his head helplessly. “I didn’t see. She was just here and then she was gone.”

“Okay, here’s what we’re going to do.” Gideon thought quickly. “It’s cold outside. We’ll take the baby inside and call Child Protective Services. They can deal with this. Until then, we’ll just have to try not to kill the kid.”

-

A short while later, Rossi sat in a hospital conference room with a mix of FBI agents, police officers, and social workers. Another social worker had taken the baby to get checked out by a doctor, so that was one less thing for Dave to worry about at the moment. 

“Can you tell us what happened, Agent Rossi?”

Rossi sighed. He’d already gone over the story several times. But he knew how these things worked, and so he dutifully recounted the story once again. 

“I saw a woman carrying a baby up the steps of the FBI building. I could tell she wasn’t well, so I approached her to see if I could help.”

“How did you know that she wasn’t well?” one of the police officers asked. 

“She wasn’t wearing any shoes, and there was a hospital bracelet around her wrist,” Rossi replied. “It also looked like she was talking to herself. And when she looked around, it was like she wasn’t seeing things how they really were.”

“So then what happened?” The other police officer, who seemed to be slightly younger than the first, took notes as Rossi told his story. 

“I asked her if she was alright and if there was anyone I could call for her. She didn’t answer, but she said something about how she’d been looking for me.”

“Did you recognize her? Is there any chance you knew her somehow?” the older officer interrupted. Rossi took a deep breath. He wasn’t used to being on this side of a police interrogation, and he had to say that he didn't enjoy it much. 

“No,” Dave replied with confidence. “Like I said, she clearly wasn’t very stable mentally. And I think she was aware of that, because she told me that she couldn’t take care of her baby and that she wanted me to take him. Then she gave him to me.”

“And you have no idea where she went.”

Rossi shook his head. “When I looked up, she was gone. I tried to find her on the street, but no one I talked to had seen her.”

The first police officer nodded. “Do you think you could describe the woman to a sketch artist? It might be able to help us find her.”

“Of course,” Rossi replied automatically. 

“Great. We’ll get one in here as soon as possible. Thank you for your cooperation.”

Rossi nodded. As the officers turned to leave, he remembered the woman’s hospital bracelet. “Wait,” he blurted out.

The men looked back at him. “Yes, Agent Rossi?”

“I took a look at the woman’s wristband when I was talking to her, and I saw part of her name. EID. Do you think that might help you to figure out who she is?”

“It might,” the older officer said, although he didn’t seem particularly convinced. The other police officer made a note of Rossi’s observation in his notebook. “Thank you for your cooperation, Agent.”

Rossi nodded. “Of course. Please let me know if there’s anything else I can do to help.”


	2. Adopted

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gideon talks Rossi into keeping Spencer

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: Edits made to the chapter on 12/24/2019 to mention Gideon's son Stephen (who would have been about a year older than Reid).

Two days later, Rossi was woken up to the sound of ringing. He crawled out of bed and grabbed the phone off the receiver, still half-asleep. “This is Agent David Rossi,” he said. “To whom am I speaking?”

“Hello, Agent Rossi. This is Sarah Angelo with Child and Family Services. I’m calling regarding the case of an infant you found a couple days ago?”

Rossi was instantly alert. “Yes, of course. Have you been able to identify him?”

“We’ve located a woman, Diana Reid, who matches the description of the woman you encountered. She recently gave birth to a son, Spencer, and we are currently awaiting blood typing results to determine if she is indeed the mother,” Sarah reported. 

“How were you able to find her?” Rossi asked curiously. 

“Mrs. Reid’s husband, William, came forward to tell us that his wife had been pregnant and had returned home without the child. Apparently she has a history of schizophrenia and may have gone off her antipsychotic medication. She’s been committed to a psychiatric facility.”

“Oh,” Rossi said. He didn’t know whether to be disappointed that the baby’s mother was so ill or relieved that she was getting the care that she clearly needed. “So, will the father be taking custody of the child?”

The social worker sighed audibly. “It’s not immediately clear what will happen to him. William Reid has told us that he suspects Diana was unfaithful to him and that the child may not be his. Regardless of whether that’s true or not, he doesn’t want anything to do with the newborn. It seems likely that after he’s released from the hospital, Spencer will be put into foster care.”

Rossi shook his head. It didn’t seem fair for a child so young to have to lose both his parents like this. “Is he - is Spencer still in the hospital?” he asked. 

“He is,” Sarah confirmed. “But he’s been doing well, and his doctors tell me that he should be released very soon.”

“Can I see him?” Dave asked. The words surprised him as they came out of his mouth. He’d barely held the boy for a minute. And yet for some reason, he felt compelled to make sure he was alright. 

“Oh - well...of course,” the woman replied, sounding just as caught off guard as Rossi felt. “I can call the hospital and have you put on his visitor’s list.”

“That would be great, thank you.” He hung up the phone. Before he knew what he was doing, Rossi had gotten fully dressed and packed his go bag. He was going to see little Spencer Reid. 

-

“Am I crazy?” Rossi asked. 

“Probably,” Gideon replied nonchalantly. He watched as his friend held the infant in his arms, pacing back up and down the hospital hallway. 

“Jason, I’m serious,” Rossi replied. “I don’t have a wife, don’t have any experience taking care of children, and don’t even go home most nights. Do you think it’s crazy for me to try to take this kid?”

“It sounds like you have plenty of good reasons not to do it,” the agent said. 

“So that’s a yes?” Rossi bounced Spencer in his arms. 

Gideon shrugged. “I think that you must really care about this kid if you’re ignoring all those reasons.”

“That’s what I don’t understand,” Dave said. “I barely know him. Some crazy woman came up to me on the street and handed me her baby, so now he’s mine?”

Spencer began to fuss, and Rossi shot his friend a panicked look. “See, I did something wrong! And now he’s upset!”

“Relax,” Gideon said, helping him to shift the baby into a new position. “He’s a baby. Babies cry. It has nothing to do with you.” 

“Maybe you should take him,” Rossi suggested, only half-joking, as Spencer quieted down. “You know how to do this whole fatherhood thing.”

Jason snorted. “Not a chance. Stephen’s barely sleeping through the night as it is,” he replied. He looked at his friend with a serious expression. “But you know, nobody really knows how to be a parent. You just have to figure it out as you go along.”

Dave shook his head. “Even if I did take Spencer, what would I do?” He started to pace again, a little faster this time. “Drive him around the country with us as we hunt down pedophiles and serial killers? No, he’d be better off in foster care. I’m sure there’s some nice, normal couple out there who could adopt him. He could grow up with a mom and a dad who wanted him. They could give him a good childhood. I can’t. Not with the job.”

“You could give him a good childhood,” Jason countered. “You’ve always said that you were waiting for the right excuse to take leave from the Bureau and write a book about all our cases. A baby seems like as good a reason as any.”

Rossi stopped bouncing Spencer as he processed this suggestion. “That’s crazy,” he insisted after a moment. “I can’t leave you alone in the Bureau. What would you do without me?”

“You wouldn’t have to leave forever.” The pieces started to come together in Gideon’s head. “Take a few years off. Write your book and teach and consult on cases or whatever. Maybe even find a wife who’s willing to settle down with you. Then come back when Spencer’s older. We could teach him a lot about profiling, you know.”

Dave snorted. “Teaching my kid about serial killers. No, thank you. That sounds like a great way to ruin him for life.”

Gideon gave his coworker a smile. “You said he was ‘your’ kid. Sounds like your mind might already be made up about what to do.”

Rossi processed this for a moment. “I suppose it is,” he admitted. “But if this kid turns out messed up, I’m blaming you.”


	3. Gifted

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> On a visit with Rossi, Gideon discovers that four-year-old Spencer has a hidden talent

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning for mild ableism. I tried to tone it down at much as possible, but Spencer was an autistic kid growing up in the 1980s so I felt that it would be more out of character for Gideon and Rossi to not express some questionable beliefs. I don't believe that either Gideon or Rossi were ableist people per se, but they were living in a pre-ADA time and had likely never even heard the word "autism" before.

_(four years later)_

  
“Spencer?” Rossi called out. “Spencer, Uncle Jason is here.”

Gideon caught a glimpse of brown hair as the shy boy ducked behind his father’s legs. Rossi tried gently to encourage his son to greet the visitor, but Spencer refused to budge. His father shot an apologetic look at Gideon. “I told you he didn’t like people.”

The profiler nodded. “I can see that,” he replied dryly. He knelt down to Spencer’s level. “Hi, Spencer. Do you remember me? I’m your Uncle Jason.” The little boy continued to hide his face behind his father’s pants.

Gideon glanced at Dave. “I brought him a present. Is it okay if I give it to him now?”

“Sure,” Rossi replied. Gideon produced a colorful 3x3 puzzle cube. He held it out to the young boy, who didn’t seem to know how to react. The agent gave the toy a few turns to demonstrate how it worked. He offered the cube to Spencer again, this time with the colors mixed up on the faces. The boy took it from the man’s hands and ran off to the living room with his new toy.

“A Rubik’s cube, Jason?” Rossi asked, shaking his head in disbelief. “What do you expect a four-year-old to do with that?”

“You said he liked blocks,” Gideon replied defensively. “A cube is a block, isn’t it?”

“He likes blocks that he can arrange into perfectly straight rows, organized by color and size and shape, and then throw a temper tantrum when I accidentally step on one,” Rossi replied.

Gideon’s face was sympathetic. “He still hasn’t grown out of that? I thought the doctor said he would stop.”

Rossi shook his head. “That was two years ago. I took him to a new doctor who told me that Spencer’s intellectual ‘challenges’ were caused by his mother’s mental issues. Then I took him to a specialist who said that he’s like this because his mother abandoned him. And then I took him to another specialist who thought that he wouldn’t have turned out this way if he’d been raised with two parents instead of one. The only thing the experts can agree on is that he’s never going to be normal.”

“I’m sorry, Dave.” He didn’t know what else to say. After all, Gideon had been the one who pressured Rossi to adopt Spencer. “Truly, I am.”

“It’s not your fault,” Rossi replied tiredly. “I just don’t know what to do. I can’t enroll him in school because no decent school will enroll a four-year-old who can’t speak a word and screams whenever other children try to play with him. They all tell me to send him away. But I can’t put him in an institution. He’s my son. And I can tell he’s in there somewhere. I just can’t figure out how to get through to him.”

“You will,” Gideon said, although the words felt empty even to him.

Dave shook his head. “I’m sorry. You came over to discuss a case and all I’m doing is rambling about fatherhood. Why don’t we go to the kitchen and you can show me the files?”

Gideon nodded. He followed his friend into the kitchen, where they spread his case files across the table.

“This was our first victim,” Gideon began, pointing to a photograph of the body of a teenage girl. “Local police found her two months ago. Since then, we’ve had three more victims turn up. All around the same age, and from similar neighborhoods.”

“Any connection between the victims?” Rossi asked.

“None that we’ve found,” the profiler replied. “The interesting part of the case is the unsub’s signature, though.” He continued to describe the details of the murders to his old friend.

Although Rossi hadn’t officially worked a case since Spencer had come into his care, he was still very much involved in the FBI. When he wasn’t working on his book, which he insisted would be finished any day now, he consulted with Gideon and the other profilers from home. When there was a particularly challenging case, Rossi would occasionally pack up his son to join Gideon on the road. Dave would be the first to admit that the scenes he took Spencer to were altogether unsuitable for a young boy, but his son seemed unaffected by it all. To occupy him, Rossi would hand Spencer a thick book, and the child would be content for hours as he flipped through the pages and stared at the tiny print. He seemed to be almost as mesmerized by his books as he was with his blocks.

The two were so engrossed in their work that they didn’t even notice when a soft clicking started coming from the living room. At first it was infrequent, almost hesitant, but as time went on, a rhythm emerged. Click. Click-click. Click. Click. Click-click.

Dave noticed first. “What’s that noise?” he asked. They both paused to listen. “Is that Spencer?”

Rossi hurried into the living room to check on his son. The young boy sat cross-legged on the floor, Gideon’s present in hand. Only it wasn’t mixed up anymore. Each face was now a solid color, just like it had been when Spencer had first seen it. His father stared in disbelief.

“I told you he would like it,” Gideon said as he looked into the room with Rossi. “You really need to trust me sometimes.”

Then he noticed the pattern on the Rubik’s cube. He did a double take. “Wait, did he...?”

“No way,” Rossi uttered. “You probably just didn’t mix it up enough.”

Gideon approached the table and gently reached for the toy. Spencer let him have it without protest. The boy stared at the floor as Gideon turned the sides of the cube until they were thoroughly mixed up. Then, he handed it back.

Spencer studied the new pattern. He turned over the Rubik’s cube in his hands, slowly taking in each of the faces. The two men watched in silent anticipation.

“You’re probably right,” Gideon conceded after this had gone on for about a minute. “It was probably just some kind of fluke.”

The words had barely left his mouth when Spencer began to twist the cube. His movements were slow but deliberate, and there was a look of intense concentration on his face as he worked.

Another couple minutes went by. Spencer rhythmically twisted the sides of the cube in a pattern that made no sense to either of the men watching. He seemed to retreat into his own little world, completely engrossed in the task at hand.

Rossi noticed it first. “Jason,” he whispered excitedly as the colors began to migrate to their respective places on the cube. “Jason, are you seeing this?”

“I see it, Dave.”

Spencer stopped twisting. In his hands was a perfectly solved Rubik’s cube. Rossi’s jaw dropped. He pinched himself on the arm, just to make sure everything he was seeing was actually real.

Then, Spencer did something else that surprised both Gideon and Rossi. He stood up from his place on the floor, walked over to Gideon, and held the cube out to him.

“Do you - do you want me to mix it up again?” Gideon asked. The child gently pressed his toy into Gideon’s hand.

Gideon gave Rossi a wide-eyed look of shock. “What are you waiting for?” Rossi asked, regaining some of his composure. “He wants you to mix it up for him.”

The profiler shook his head in disbelief as he turned the parts of the cube again. He handed it back to Spencer, who returned to where he had been sitting on the floor.

“That’s quite an impressive son you’ve got there,” Gideon murmured to Rossi as they watched the young boy set to work on his puzzle again.

“I know,” Dave replied proudly. “Quite impressive indeed.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In case it wasn't immediately clear, Spencer is definitely aware of everything that's going on around him. I've also always envisioned him as being hyperlexic, so he's actually reading everything that Rossi gives him (which is almost entirely not appropriate for his age).


	4. Profiled

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Spencer wants to go to the library. His father turns it into a lesson on profiling

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't have much experience with young children, so please forgive any implausibilities in my portrayal of six-year-old Spencer. If you know anything about child development and have any feedback, please leave it in the comments and I'll try to incorporate your suggestions.

_(two years later)_

  
“Daddy, can you take me to the library?” Spencer asked.

Rossi looked up at his son. In Dave’s hands was a copy of his manuscript, which he was trying to finish annotating before he sent back to the publisher.

“Again?” Rossi asked, setting down his pen. “Didn’t I just take you?”

“That was two days ago,” the boy protested. “I finished all the books we got.”

Rossi sighed. “Can’t you read something we already have at home?”

“I’ve already read all of them,” Spencer replied. The boy shot a pleading look at his father, but he wasn’t convincing enough.

“Then re-read them,” Dave suggested. He was proud of his strange, precocious son, but there were times when he wished Spencer would just be a normal six-year-old kid who would be content to sit in front of the television and watch cartoons. But ever since Spencer had started talking a year ago, it seemed that words were the only thing that could satisfy him.

“There’s no point,” the boy whined. “I already know what they say. And besides, we don’t have any books on psychology. Or biology.”

Dave considered his schedule for a moment. “I can take you on Wednesday,” he offered.

Spencer flopped down on the couch across from his father. “That’s too long,” he complained. “I want to go now.”

“I can’t take you to the library right now, Spencer,” Rossi replied. “I have work to do.”

“Fine,” Spencer pouted.

“Why do you want to learn about biology anyways?” he asked curiously. He hoped this wouldn’t be the start of another one of Spencer’s fixations. He got this way with certain subjects, and there was no stopping or redirecting him until he was satisfied. The worst had been Spencer’s train phase, when he’d refused for months to take any other form of transportation. Rossi was still finding copies of DC’s train schedules around the house. He was just glad that Gideon had agreed to take all the model trains off his hands once Spencer had moved on to a new interest. 

The boy crossed his arms. “Doesn’t matter,” he replied petulantly. In one quick motion, he jumped off the couch, swiped the pen from his father, and darted off into the next room.

“Spencer!” Rossi called, setting down his papers and reluctantly getting up from his chair. “Spencer, bring that back!”

“Nope!” the child’s voice piped up through the walls. Dave sighed as he tracked his son down into the kitchen.

“Spencer, please give me back my pen,” Rossi said with exasperation. “I need it to finish my work.”

The boy hid the pen behind his back. “You can work at the library,” Spencer countered stubbornly.

“Yes, but we’re not going to the library today,” the father replied, trying to be patient. “I told you, we’ll go on Wednesday. Now, will you please return my pen?”

“No.”

Rossi sighed. “Spencer, can you tell me what this is really about?”

“No.”

“Is this about the books you wanted to get?” Rossi ventured. Spencer nodded reluctantly.

Dave analyzed his son for a moment. “Spencer, I realize you’re upset. But you have to realize that taking my pen isn’t the way to get me to take you to the library,” he reasoned. “Do you remember what I told you about how to get someone to help you?”

“If you want someone to do something for you, you have to know what they want first,” Spencer replied. It was a lesson that his father had repeated to him many times.

Rossi nodded approvingly. “And I know that you want to go to the library. But do you know what I want?”

“To do your work,” Spencer pouted in a small voice. “That’s all you ever want to do.”

“You know that’s not true,” Dave replied, although he could see how his son might feel that way. “I know I work a lot, but we do a lot of other things, right? Remember how we made those rockets last weekend?”

“Yes,” he admitted, remembering the science project they had conducted together. Spencer had quite enjoyed mixing the chemicals together in tiny film canisters and watching them fly through the air.

“So if you want me to take you to the library, and I want to finish my work, what should you do?” Rossi asked.

“Let you finish your work.” He returned the pen to his father with a sheepish look.

Dave nodded. “Exactly.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The rockets Rossi mentions are a reference to a scene in 02x12 where Reid demonstrates "physics magic" to Emily, JJ, Garcia, and Hotch. The trains Gideon owns are supposed to be the ones we see in his apartment in 02x23


	5. Befriended

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Rossis go to the library. Spencer makes a friend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was inspired by a comment I received from @ahowell1993. Thank you for your suggestion!

Spencer held his father’s hand as they walked into the library together. As soon as they crossed the threshold, though, he ran off into the nonfiction section alone. Rossi kept an eye on his son from a distance as he settled into a comfortable chair and began to read a case file he had brought along. 

Spencer hurried through the shelves until he reached the 500 section - science. He slowed down to look more carefully, then stopped on the 570s. The boy scanned the spines of each book, searching for his prize in the 576 section. 

But instead of the dense, heavy books he loved, Spencer found nothing but a large gap between the 575s (plant physiology) and 577s (ecology). Confused, the boy searched the nearby shelves to see if things had been misplaced. Surely all the books couldn’t be checked out. And yet there was not a single book on genetics anywhere in sight. So Reid sought out the only person he knew could help him - a librarian. 

“Hello,” the librarian said politely to the young boy as he approached the circulation desk. “Can I help you find anything?” 

“Yes, please,” Spencer replied. “I was wondering where all your books on genetics are.”

The woman’s brow knit, clearly confused as to why a boy of Spencer’s age would be interested in such a topic. Still, she answered him, albeit with the tone of an adult indulging a child in a game of make-believe. “They should be in the science section. I can show you where that is.”

“I know where that is,” the boy told her, but the librarian was already leading him off to the same shelves he had just checked. “They should be at 576, but there’s nothing there.”

The librarian stopped in front of the empty space. “Well, would you look at that?” she asked herself. “I suppose they are all checked out.”

“Really?” Spencer asked. “All of them?”

“That seems to be the case. If you’d like, though, I can help you find something else to read.” She eyed the children’s section. 

“No, thank you,” the boy replied. The librarian nodded and walked off. 

Spencer was just about to call it quits and ask his father to take him home when he felt a light tap on his shoulder. He spun around to see a brown-haired girl a few years older than himself. Clutched under one arm was a thick stack of books. 

“Hi.” The pre-teen girl brushed hair out of her eyes. “I heard you were looking for the genetics books. I...kind of took them all.” She gave him a sheepish grin. “I didn’t think anyone would mind. But we can share them,” she offered, holding out the stack of books. 

He hesitantly took one from her. Spencer slowly turned the volume over in his hands, then cracked it open to skim the contents. It was exactly what he had been looking for.

“My name is Maeve, by the way,” the girl said, keeping her voice low to avoid disturbing the patrons around them.

“I’m Spencer,” he replied apprehensively. Spencer didn’t have the best track record with kids his own age. But he’d never met one who liked genetics before. 

“If you want any of the other books, I was reading them over there.” She pointed to a small reading nook a few feet away, where more books lay in haphazard stacks. “You can take as many of them as you like.”

“Really?” Spencer knelt down to examine the books that Maeve had collected. 

She nodded earnestly. “I’ve already read all of these, “ she replied, gesturing to the largest pile of books. Maeve then ducked her head shyly. “Sorry, I know that’s kind of weird.”

“I think it’s cool,” he said quietly. “I like science, too.”

“Do you want to be a doctor when you grow up?” Maeve asked curiously. “That’s what I want to be.”

Spencer shook his head. “I want to be a physicist. And a chemist. And an engineer.”

She cocked her head. “Why do you want to learn about genetics, then?”

He shrugged evasively. “I just want to know what’s going to happen to me when I grow up.”

Maeve was just about to ask him what he meant by this when she was interrupted by Rossi. “Spencer?” he said. “I’m sorry, but we have to go now. Uncle Jason just called, and he needs me at work. You’re going to have to come with me.”

It was only then that he noticed Maeve. “Hi,” she said to the older man. “I’m Maeve.”

Dave looked from Maeve to his son and back. “Hello, Maeve,” he said after a moment. “I’m David, Spencer’s dad. It’s nice to meet you. But I’m afraid I’m going to have to take Spencer now.”

“Do you have to, Daddy?” Spencer asked. “Maeve and I were just starting to talk about genetics.”

Rossi’s eyebrow raised slightly. He blinked a few times, wondering if the girl in front of him was real. But then he brought himself back to the present. “I’m sorry, Spencer. I really need to get to work.”

“That’s okay,” Maeve said. She sorted through her books for a moment, then selected one from a short stack by her feet. “Here.” The girl held the book out. “Take this one. It’s supposed to be the best.”

“But you haven’t read it yet,” Spencer protested. Her system of organization was not lost on him. 

She shrugged. “I can read it some other time.” Maeve twisted her hair between her fingers. “Or you could tell me about it, if you want,” she suggested shyly. “My mom’s a librarian, so I’m here all the time. You can come and see me again.”

The boy looked to his father. “Can we come back again soon so I can see Maeve?” he asked. 

David smiled as he looked at his son’s new friend. “Of course. I’ll bring you back as soon as possible,” Rossi promised. 

“Okay,” Spencer said. He turned to Maeve. “Bye.”

“Bye,” Maeve echoed. “See you soon.”

-

Two days later, Dave and Spencer returned to the library. Spencer made a beeline for the nonfiction section again, where he found Maeve seated almost exactly where he’d last seen her. 

“Spencer!” Maeve said excitedly when she saw him. “You came back.”

He nodded and held out the book to her. “I finished the book, too. I learned a lot.”

“You finished the book? Already?” Maeve took in the thick volume and the small boy, a look of disbelief on her face. 

Spencer shrugged. “I read fast. And it was interesting.” He sat cross-legged next to his new friend and picked up another book from her collection. “Have you read this one yet?”

Maeve’s head bobbed up and down. “That one’s really good, too,” she said earnestly. “It’s about genetic engineering.”

“Perfect,” Spencer said. He eagerly turned to the first page and began reading. 

The two sat together in comfortable silence, each reading their respective books. In between chapters, Maeve looked up at Spencer. “So, why are you interested in genetics?” she asked. “You never told me.”

Spencer shrugged. “I like facts. And I don’t like surprises. My mom has schizophrenia, and I want to know if I’m going to get it, too,” he replied matter-of-factly. He kept his nose in his book so he wouldn’t have to look at Maeve’s face. 

“I’m sorry about that,” Maeve said compassionately. “That must be hard.”

The boy nodded, still not looking up. “I still get to see her,” he said. “When my dad takes me to visit. But she lives far away, so we don’t get to visit often.”

“Do you miss her?” she asked.

“I do,” Spencer confided in his friend. “But we write letters to each other a lot.”

“What do you write to her about?” 

“Everything. Books, math, my dad, his work. I tell her everything.”

Maeve smiled. “Do you tell her about your friends?”

Spencer shrugged uncomfortably. “I don’t have any friends,” he admitted. 

The girl looked at him, wide-eyed. “That can’t be true,” she declared. “You’re smart and interesting and you’re really good at reading. Why don’t you have any friends?”

“Other kids think I’m weird.”

Maeve shook her head. “Well, I’m weird, too. So you can be my friend.”

Spencer smiled hesitantly. “Really?”

She nodded sincerely. “Really. You should tell your mom in one of your letters.”

“I will,” he promised.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It occurred to me after writing this chapter that our knowledge of genetics has changed a lot since the eighties and that no one knew anything about the human genome when Reid was a kid. Please forgive me for taking this creative liberty (I just wanted a good reason for Maeve and Spencer to be friends).


	6. Accepted

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Spencer gets into MIT and meets Hotch for the first time.

Aaron Hotchner read over the report in his hands. He’d been on the BAU team for a few months now, but his determination to prove himself to the senior agents was as strong as ever. Aaron didn’t want them to have any reason to doubt him as a profiler. 

“Daddy!” a boy’s voice called out. Hotchner spun around in his chair to see a young boy, maybe nine or ten years old, dart out of the elevator and run into the bullpen. He glanced around, trying to figure out who this child could belong to. After a moment, he left his desk and approached the child. 

“Hi,” Aaron said apprehensively, taking in the scrawny boy. Clasped in his hands was a piece of paper, although Hotchner couldn’t get a good look at what it was. “Can I help you find...”

The boy’s eyes fixed on something behind him. He pushed past Aaron, who watched the kid run right into the arms of another agent. Aaron realized with surprise that that agent was none other than his boss, David Rossi. 

“Spencer?” the man said in surprise. “What are you doing here?”

Spencer thrust the paper at his father, who took it. He bounced impatiently on the balls of his feet as Dave read the letter. After a moment, the man looked at his son in surprise. “You got in?” he asked. 

“I got in!” Spencer crowed. His hands flapped excitedly by his sides as he bounced on the balls of his feet. 

Rossi’s face broke into the widest grin Aaron had ever seen. “I knew you would,” he said proudly, wrapping his arms around his son in a warm embrace. “Come on. We have to celebrate.”

Aaron watched in surprise as Dave and his son walked out of the bullpen. He hadn’t even known that Dave had a son. And he’d certainly never seen an FBI agent just leave like that, right in the middle of the workday. Whatever Spencer had been so excited about, it must have been quite the accomplishment to elicit such a reaction. 

“Don’t question it,” a gruff voice said from behind Aaron. He spun around to see Agent Gideon give him a strange look. 

His face flushed. “Sir, I - I…” He fumbled over his words, then faltered. He tried again. “I was just surprised that Agent Rossi -”

Gideon looked amused. “You didn’t know that Rossi has a son.” He chuckled slightly to himself. “You wouldn’t be the first. I never thought he would be the type, either.”

“Sir?” Hotchner asked in confusion. But Gideon was already walking away. 

The agent at the desk next to Aaron’s leaned over. “Rossi’s kid is some kind of genius,” he half-whispered. Aaron was pretty sure the man’s name was Williams. “He’s an odd one. Talks kind of funny sometimes and never seems to sit still. But I heard him talking to Agent Gideon. Rossi’s planning to send him off to college in the fall. One of those fancy engineering schools.”

Aaron frowned. “That kid?” he asked. He shook his head. “No way. He can’t be older than what, ten years old?”

Agent Williams shrugged. “I think he’s twelve. But believe me, he’s smarter than any college kid I’ve ever known.”

Hotchner’s eyebrows raised, more than slightly doubtful of the agent’s claims. “Impressive.”

“Yeah.” Williams laughed to himself. “You’d better watch your back, Agent. If you’re not careful, that kid will probably have your job in a couple years.”

Aaron shook his head. “Funny,” he muttered, turning back to his desk. “I have work to do.”

-

“Where are we going?” Spencer asked as his father led him into the elevator. He pressed the button for the ground floor, and they began to descend. 

“To celebrate, of course,” Rossi replied. He handed the acceptance letter back to his son, who admired the prominently displayed MIT seal. “Do you want to get ice cream?”

Spencer made a face. “It’s too cold for ice cream,” he said. The elevator doors opened, and they both stepped out into the lobby of the FBI building. Spencer glanced around at all the workers. “And I don’t want to take you away from your job. I know people need you here.”

Dave looked down at his son with a serious expression. “Spencer, my work can wait. And my team - they’re all adults who can take care of themselves. Right now, I’m just your dad, and I’m proud of you.” He squeezed Spencer’s shoulder, and the boy smiled. “So we’re going to celebrate. What do you want?”

Spencer hesitated, then gave his father a pleading look. “Can I have coffee?” he asked. The profiler hesitated. “Please?”

“You’re too young to drink coffee,” Rossi protested. He’d first let his son have a sip from his mug a few months ago, and it had immediately become clear that the father would live to regret it. “How about a hot chocolate?”

“Please, Daddy?” Spencer knew exactly where his father’s weaknesses were, and he didn’t hold back in going straight for them. “Just one cup? You did say you were proud of me.”

Dave sighed, trying and failing to not be swayed by Spencer’s puppy-dog eyes. “You’re too young,” he repeated half-heartedly. 

“Studies have shown that drinking coffee can reduce a person’s risk of dementia, Parkinson’s disease, and cancer,” the boy recited. “And it contains antioxidants and B vitamins.”

“All right,” Rossi conceded. The boy beamed. “But just one cup, okay?” 

Spencer nodded earnestly. “Just one cup,” he repeated. 

“And I’m going to tell all the coffee shops in Boston not to serve you,” he told his son. His expression was straight, but the profiler’s playful tone gave away that he was joking. 

“Dad!” Spencer protested, laughing. “You can’t do that!”

Rossi waved his FBI credentials at his son. “I’ll tell you what - when you get one of these, you can drink as much coffee as you like. Deal?” He held out his hand to shake. 

Spencer glared at his father. “That’s not fair,” he pouted. 

Dave gave him an amused look. “Life isn’t fair, kid. Do we have a deal?”

He gave his father a look, then reluctantly shook the outstretched hand. “Fine,” he replied.


	7. Checked

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jason visits Spencer at Caltech and tries a new tactic to get him to join the FBI.

“Spencer!”

Spencer turned around to see Gideon hurrying up the sidewalk. “Spencer!”

He let the man wrap his arms around him, albeit briefly, before pulling away. “What are you doing here?” he asked in surprise. 

“We had a case in LA,” Gideon explained. 

Spencer crossed his arms, his pleased expression fading. “And my father asked you to check on me?” 

“Our flight isn’t until tomorrow morning,” the profiler replied. “And I wanted to see where you went to school.”

Spencer sighed. “I don’t ‘go to school’, Uncle Jason,” the young man replied, trying not to sound petulant. ‘I’m not a little kid. I’m working on a PhD.”

“I know, Spencer,” Gideon replied. “What’s this, degree number four? Five?”

“Five,” he admitted reluctantly. After graduating from MIT with degrees in psychology and sociology, Spencer had remained in Cambridge to get his first PhD in chemistry. Then, he’d moved across the country to Caltech to receive a second doctorate in mathematics, and was now working towards a third PhD in engineering. “This’ll be my fifth.”

Gideon shook his head. “When are you going to finally get out of school and do something useful with that brain of yours?”

“I am doing something useful,” Spencer replied defensively. “I’m involved in research regarding the-”

“I don’t mean in a lab,” Jason interrupted. “When are you going to join the bureau?”

“I’m not,” Spencer informed him. His father had already tried almost every tactic to get him to join the FBI - appealing to his academic curiosity, national pride, sense of duty, and countless other angles. None of them had worked. Before Gideon could press the matter further, he changed the subject. “Uncle Jason, since it’s your first time in Pasadena, why don’t I show you my apartment? It’s not far from here.”

Gideon recognized the attempt to divert the conversation, but he was interested in seeing visiting Spencer’s apartment. If nothing else, Dave would want to know how his son was doing. “Sure,” he agreed. 

The pair began to walk down the sidewalk, with Spencer pointing out various buildings to Jason as they crossed the campus. He continued to make small talk as he led the agent into a residential building and unlocked an apartment door. “Here we are,” he announced. “This is my apartment.”

The space was relatively small, but perfectly neat. Gideon nodded approvingly. “It’s very nice.” 

Gideon’s eyes landed on the chess set on his shelf, which had been a birthday gift from his father. Spencer noticed him looking. “Almost everyone here plays,” he told Gideon. “I’ve gotten a lot better over the past couple years.”

His eyebrows raised. “Oh?” Jason asked. “Do you think you could beat me now?”

Spencer shrugged. “Probably.”

Gideon chuckled and shook his head. “I doubt that,” he countered. “I’ve known you since you were a baby, Spencer.”

“That doesn’t mean anything,” the young man retorted. 

“It means everything, Spencer,” Gideon replied. “You’ve got to think outside of the box. And as smart as you are, you still haven’t learned how to do that.”

“Is this still because I won’t join the FBI?” Spencer questioned. 

Instead of answering, Jason picked up the chessboard and handed it to Spencer. “You have time for a game?” he asked. 

“Sure,” Spencer replied. “But just because you’re a profiler doesn’t mean that you can beat me.” He pretended not to see Gideon’s smile as he said this. 

“How about this?” Jason suggested as they set up the pieces together. “If I win this game, you apply to the Academy.”

“And if I win?” 

“I’ll never bother you about it again,” Gideon replied. “I’ll even tell your father to do the same.”

“He’ll never listen.” Spencer had been getting pressure from his father to join the FBI for most of his life, and he doubted even Jason could convince him to lay off. He’d hoped that when his father had retired for the second time a few years ago, he would have given up on his son following in his footsteps. But if anything, he seemed more determined than ever to have an Agent Rossi in the BAU.

“I’ll convince him.”

Spencer considered this for a moment. On one hand, he wasn’t entirely sure he could beat his uncle. But on the other hand, Spencer figured his chances of getting into the FBI Academy were almost zero. Maybe once he saw the rejection letter, his father would finally accept that Spencer wasn’t meant to be an agent. So he extended his hand. “Deal.”

Gideon shook his hand. “May the best man win,” he said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked the chapter! I know it's kind of short and it's been a while since I updated, but I promise there will be more action in the future.
> 
> Moving forward, I'm planning on updating this work every other week on Wednesday. I wish I could post more often, but between school and the other fics I'm trying not to abandon (even though this work is definitely my favorite), that's the best I can do right now. Please comment if you've been enjoying this story or if you have any suggestions! I love receiving feedback on my work


	8. Introduced

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The BAU team gossips about their newest member

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for posting late, but please enjoy this update!

Spencer stared at the steps to the FBI building. He thought back to all the times he’d run into the building to visit his father and uncle at work. Somehow it had never seemed imposing from his childhood vantage point. But now, as he was about to enter the building as an FBI agent for the first time, he felt smaller than ever before. 

Gideon stared at the building, too, although for an altogether different reason. Standing with Spencer, he couldn’t help but think of the newborn baby who had been left at these very steps twenty-two years ago. Never in his wildest dreams could he have imagined that the infant would grow up to be such a brilliant young man. And soon, a brilliant young profiler just like his father.

He wished Dave were here to see Spencer off on his first day. But the new agent had absolutely refused to let his father make an appearance, insisting that it was bad enough that everyone already knew him as “David Rossi’s kid”. And Dave understood that his son felt he had enough to prove already. Still, both Jason and Dave had made up for it by being a spectacular embarrassment at Spencer’s swearing-in ceremony. 

“Were you nervous when you first joined the FBI?” Spencer asked suddenly. 

“I was,” Gideon admitted. “But I had no reason to be, and neither do you. You’re a qualified profiler, and you wouldn’t be here if I or anyone else thought you weren’t capable of doing the job.”

Spencer chewed his lip. “Do you think I still would have gotten the job if I were anyone else?” he asked. 

Jason didn’t need to think about it. “If you still had three PhDs and the highest cognitive exam scores in the modern history of the Academy, then yes, absolutely. Kid, no one on the team cares how old you are or who your father is. You’re here because you were the best trainee in your class and that’s what the BAU needs.” 

He patted the young man on the shoulder. “Come on,” Gideon said, leading Spencer into the FBI building. “Let’s meet the rest of the team.”

-

When Aaron had first heard that Spencer Rossi was joining the BAU, he’d thought Gideon was joking. There was no way the scrawny, shaggy-haired son of David Rossi could have joined the FBI. Even Spencer’s file - two bachelor’s degrees, three doctorates, and exemptions from most of the physical training requirements of an FBI agent - seemed utterly unbelievable. 

Hotch’s first impression of Spencer as an agent didn’t exactly help. Before he’d even had a chance to say “nice to meet you, Dr. Rossi,” Aaron had already been bombarded with a half a dozen tangentially related facts and statistics about law enforcement and the criminal justice system. It was only thanks to Gideon, who managed to quiet the new agent with a cup of coffee, that Hotch was able to speak long enough to introduce Spencer to the work he’d be doing. That soon backfired, however, when after five minutes Spencer had downed two cups and was jiggling his leg hard enough to make the entire table shake. Aaron made a mental note to replace all the coffee in the building with decaf as Spencer started practicing sleight-of-hand with his new FBI badge. 

The rest of the BAU agents gathered in the bullpen. Hotch had already told the team that they were meeting in the round table room, but the agents deliberately took their time getting situated as they tried to catch a glimpse of their newest recruit.

“Do you think he’s really as smart as they say?” Morgan asked no one in particular as he craned his neck to see into the round table room. 

“I took a look at his file this morning,” Garcia confided in the others. “It says he has three PhDs.”

Elle shook her head in disbelief. “No way. Isn’t he like, seventeen?”

“Twenty-two,” JJ corrected. 

“They let him through the academy at twenty-two?” Morgan asked. “And then they assigned him here?”

JJ shrugged. “Apparently Gideon wrote a letter of recommendation. He must’ve really wanted him in the unit.”

Greenaway lowered her voice. “Do you think it has anything to do with his father?”

“Elle,” JJ said in a warning tone. 

“What? JJ, nobody gets into the BAU straight out of the academy. Nobody’s that good. Someone must’ve pulled major strings to get him on the team,” Greenaway insisted. “And his dad is one of the founders of the BAU. You don’t think Gideon might’ve gotten him into the unit as a favor to an old friend?”

“No way. Gideon would never let an agent into the field if they weren’t ready,” Morgan argued. “And besides, he’s Agent Rossi’s kid. He’s probably been training for the BAU since he was in the womb.”

“God, could you imagine growing up with David Rossi as your father?” Elle asked the others. Her eyes were wide as she tried to picture the legendary Agent Rossi raising a child. “The kid’s bedtime stories were probably just his old case files.”

JJ noticed Aaron’s stern face as he looked out into the bullpen. “Guys,” she said. “Hotch is waiting for us.”

Morgan clapped his hands together. “All right,” he said, taking Garcia by the arm as they headed up the stairs to the conference room. “Let’s go meet the new kid.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since Reid has (finally) joined the BAU, let me know which cases you want to see him work! I love hearing your suggestions and I'll do my best to include them!
> 
> P.S. I know that Greenaway and Garcia joined the BAU after Reid, but I enjoyed the idea of the whole team gossiping about him too much to not include it. 
> 
> P.P.S. I'm working on a little one-shot with young Spencer and Hotch, so keep your eyes peeled for that!


	9. Questioned

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Spencer meets the rest of the BAU

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the late update; I hope the extra length of this chapter made it worth the wait!

Spencer jumped out of his seat, hastily shoving his credentials into his jacket, as the other agents filed into the room. 

“Team, this is Doctor Spencer Rossi,” Hotch said to the others. “He just graduated from the Academy, and he’s been assigned to the BAU.”

Spencer glanced over the other agents. Gideon had already told him a little bit about each member of the team, and he’d read all their files. Still, he couldn’t help but feel unprepared now that he was standing in front of everyone. As they stared at him, Spencer wondered if he was supposed to say something. 

Luckily, one of the agents stepped forward after a moment, extending her hand to the new recruit. “I’m Special Agent Jennifer Jareau, but everyone just calls me JJ,” she said, confirming what Spencer already knew. “I’m the unit liaison, sort of the go-between for the team and media and local law enforcement.”

Spencer looked to her outstretched hand as he awkwardly crossed his arms over his body. “I’m sorry,” he said uncomfortably. “I don’t shake hands. But it’s nice to meet you, Agent Jareau.”

“Oh,” JJ looked taken aback as she dropped her hand and nodded. “Well, if there’s anything I can do to help you settle in, just let me know.”

“Thank you,” Spencer replied automatically. 

A muscular African American man nodded to Spencer. “I’m SSA Derek Morgan,” he said. 

“It’s nice to meet you, Agent Morgan,” Spencer muttered, trying not to feel intimidated by the man’s physique. He knew Morgan had started in the Chicago police department before joining the FBI. He’d spent years working up the ranks before joining the BAU. Spencer hoped that Agent Morgan wouldn’t look down on him because he didn’t have the same kind of background. 

The next agent to introduce herself was a young, dark-haired woman. “Special Agent Elle Greenaway,” she said, and Spencer could feel her scrutinizing him just a little more harshly than the others. Spencer remembered that she was the newest addition to the unit, having previously worked Sex Crimes at the Seattle field office. She’d definitely earned her position at the BAU. 

“Nice to meet you, Agent Greenaway,” Spencer repeated, feeling a bit like a broken record. 

“And I’m Penelope Garcia,” said a bubbly blonde woman, and although Spencer knew she wasn’t a field agent, he still couldn’t help but think that her hot pink stiletto heels seemed impractical for the FBI. “Technical analyst. All-seeing, all-knowing Oracle of Quantico at your service.”

Spencer blinked confusedly at the woman. Morgan chuckled and put his arm around Garcia. “Babygirl, maybe cool it for a moment? You’re going to scare off the kid.”

Spencer shifted uncomfortably. “It’s fine,” he said, smiling uneasily as he glanced at Gideon. The older man showed no reaction, evidently used to Garcia and Morgan’s behavior. “I’m glad to meet all of you.”

“And we’re glad to have you on our team,” Hotch replied. “We don’t have a case at the moment, so, with any luck, your first day should be relatively quiet.”

-

It was pretty quiet. For the first couple hours, anyways. Spencer settled into his new desk and was immediately started on paperwork and reviewing past cases. While his new surroundings in the bullpen were a bit distracting at first, he managed to find a rhythm and the files began to fly by. When Elle approached him, he didn’t notice until she tapped on his desk. “The team is going out for lunch,” she told Spencer. “You should come with us.”

“Now?” She nodded. Spencer checked the clock on the wall. It was barely 11:00. “Isn’t it a little early for lunch?” he asked.

Elle shrugged. “You should come with us,” she persisted. “It’ll be fun.”

“Won’t Agent Hotchner mind if we leave?” Spencer asked. 

“Hotch doesn’t care what we do as long as our work gets done. Besides, it’s not like we have a case,” Greenaway replied. “Come on; everyone else is waiting outside.”

Spencer hesitated, then set down his case file. “Okay,” he said. He grabbed his messenger bag and slipped it over his shoulder, then followed Greenaway out of the bullpen. 

They met with Derek, JJ, and Penelope in the hallway. Morgan gave the two agents a small nod. “Ready to go?” he asked. Spencer returned the nod awkwardly as the team started heading for the elevator. 

“Wait,” Spencer blurted out. “Shouldn’t we wait for Ja - I mean, Agent Gideon? And Agent Hotchner?”

Greenaway snorted. “Yeah, right.”

“Hotch and Gideon don’t usually eat with us,” Morgan explained. “They’re too busy doing...whatever they do.”

“Oh,” Spencer said nervously. As much as he hated to admit it, he’d been counting on Jason to help him navigate his first day at the BAU. Evidently, that wasn’t going to happen. 

JJ caught his apprehensive expression and gave him a warm smile. “Don’t worry,” she reassured him. “We’ll take good care of you.”

“I’m not worried,” he lied, forcing a weak smile in return. Reluctantly, Spencer followed his new teammates into the elevator.

-

They ended up at a diner a few blocks from the FBI building. The moment the agents were seated, Elle turned to Spencer with a predatory look in her eyes. “So,” she said before Spencer even had a chance to open his menu. “Tell us your secret, Dr. Rossi.”

“My secret?” he echoed. “What do you mean?”

“Come on. You’re like, eighteen. How’d you manage to get into the BAU straight out of the academy?” 

“I - I just got lucky, I guess?” Spencer shifted uncomfortably under the agent's gaze. “But I worked really hard, too,” he added quickly. “I have PhDs in-”

“Yeah, we know. Gideon told us how you’re some kind of genius,” Elle interrupted dismissively. “He speaks very highly of you.” Her words sounded like praise, but Greenaway’s tone made it clear she wasn’t impressed. 

“Agent Gideon is a family friend,” he told her. “I’ve known him for a long time.”

Elle nodded thoughtfully. “So he’s the one who got you into the BAU?”

“Elle,” JJ interjected. “Spencer’s already been vetted; you don’t need to interrogate him.”

She lifted her hands defensively. “I just wanted to get to know him.”

“JJ’s right,” Garcia chimed in. “There are lots of other things we could talk about.” Spencer breathed a sigh of relief. He gave the analyst a grateful smile. She winked back at him. 

Unfortunately, his relief was short-lived. “I have a question for the new kid,” Morgan said. “Is it true that your father interviewed Ted Bundy before he was executed?”

Spencer cringed internally, not just at Morgan’s apparent new nickname for him but also at the question. At the academy, it had seemed like all anyone wanted to know was details about his father’s career. Evidently, these FBI agents were just as starstruck. “He did,” the new agent replied. “He’s also interviewed Charles Manson and John Wayne Gacy.”

“What was that like?” Garcia asked.

“I don’t know,” Spencer said, slightly irritated by this line of questioning. “I wasn’t there.”

Greenaway shifted in her seat to get a better look at her new teammate. “Has your father ever taken you with him on his cases?” She seemed to have forgotten her doubts about Spencer’s credentials already, distracted by this new topic of conversation. 

“A few,” he admitted. He hoped that if he didn’t give the agents any more details than necessary, they’d get the hint and move on. 

Derek didn’t seem to notice. “He was at Ruby Ridge, right?” he asked, and Spencer cringed again. Even years later, any mention of the infamous FBI siege brought two painfully clear memories to mind. The first was the paralyzing fear Spencer had felt during the eleven-day standoff. The second was the haunted expression in his father’s eyes that had lingered even weeks after the events in Idaho had ended. 

Luckily, JJ’s phone rang before Spencer was forced to answer the question, and the whole table fell silent as she answered the call. When the unit liaison hung up, she looked around at the table. “Looks like this conversation is going to have to wait,” she told them. “We have a case.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you're worried about the BAU treating Spencer like this forever, don't worry! I have plans for them to start changing their tune as soon as they see him at work
> 
> Once again, please comment if you've been enjoying the story or if you have any feedback! I always try to incorporate your suggestions into my work!


	10. Drawn

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The team makes progress on Spencer's first case

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a/n: I want to make it clear that I'm not trying to portray Elle as a bad person. I think she believes that Spencer has been given an advantage in the FBI because of his father and it makes her (both as a new member of the BAU and the only female profiler on the team) perceive him as a threat to her job. In my opinion, Elle has always been a character who can be interpreted a lot of different ways. But in this universe, I think she's just insecure.

“The case is in Charleston, West Virginia,” JJ announced as she handed out case files. “Five women have been killed in their homes in the past month.” She pressed a button on her remote, causing the faces of five blondes to appear on the screen. “Their names are Emily Baker, Jennifer Woods, Amelia Brown, Shawna Harrison, and Rebecca Chapman.” Crime scene photos replace the smiling images of each woman. “They were all shot between five and seven times in their own home. Harrison and Chapman were killed just last night; they were roommates.”

Each of the bodies is shown lying in bed. “Were they asleep at the time?” Morgan asked.

JJ shook her head and pressed another button on the remote. More photos show the remnants of blood spatter under a black light. “All of the women were killed elsewhere in their homes and then dragged or carried to bed.”

“The unsub takes the time to tuck them in,” Gideon noted. “That’s a pretty clear sign of remorse. Were there any signs of sexual assault?”

The liaison shook her head again. “None,” she replied.

“So there’s no overkill and evidence of remorse,” Greenaway jumped in eagerly. “Are we thinking that maybe the unsub didn’t mean to kill these women?”

“No,” Spencer muttered quietly, not looking up from his case file. “He’s too organized for that. The unsub brought his own cleaning supplies; it was clearly premeditated.”

Everyone stared at him. “How did you know that?” Elle demanded.

His cheeks flushed. “It said so in the police report,” the young agent replied sheepishly.

Elle’s eyes narrowed suspiciously. “You read that whole thing already?”

“I, uh, read fast,” Spencer said, fidgeting uncomfortably under his teammates’ scrutiny. “I mean, you might be right about the murders being unplanned,” he added quickly when he noticed Greenaway’s irritated expression. “I don’t know-“

“No, that’s a good observation,” Hotch cut in, making Spencer shrink even farther into his seat. “All the evidence points to an organized unsub.” He looked at Spencer. “Is there anything else you noticed from the reports?”

“Um, a few things,” Spencer admitted. “Since none of the victims were killed in their beds, they must have been carried by the unsub. We know they weren’t dragged because there was no blood trail and no evidence of cleanup. So he has to be pretty fit, right?” He glanced at Gideon, who gave him a nod of encouragement. “There were also were no signs of forced entry. The victims opened their doors willingly, which means that the unsub must have a relatively harmless appearance. He probably has a stable job and might even be capable of sustaining normal relationships with others. And because he killed two victims the most recent time, he may be setting up for some kind of mass-casualty endgame.”

JJ shot an impressed look at Hotch, who acknowledged her with a nod. Gideon and he had drawn up a preliminary profile while waiting for the team to come back from lunch, and they’d shared it with JJ before presenting the case. What Spencer had just said was perfectly in line with what they’d constructed. “Good findings,” he commented. “Did anyone-”

“One more thing,” Spencer interrupted. “I think I might be able to find out where he lives.” He removed a map of Charleston from the case file and grabbed a pen from the center of the table. The young agent marked a few points on the map, then circled an area. “The unsub’s home is on the northeast edge of town.”

Hotch looked at the map, not really expecting any of it to be accurate. He was familiar enough with geographic profiling in order to be able to locate an unsub’s comfort zone in about half an hour, given that he had access to a ruler and a calculator and a little bit of help from Garcia’s computers. There was no way any agent, let alone this awkward kid fresh out of the academy, could have constructed an accurate profile so quickly. But as hard as he looked, Aaron couldn’t find a single flaw. “This...looks right,” he said in surprise. “I’m impressed.”

“Really?” Spencer squeaked. Morgan and Greenaway exchanged surprised looks, although the latter’s expression was more bitter than impressed. “You think it’s good?”

He nodded. “Great job. I’ll make sure local police have a copy of this before we land.” Hotch stood up and adjusted his tie, then picked up his own case file and Spencer’s map. “We’ll add to Dr. Rossi’s profile on the jet. Wheels up in thirty.”

-

It didn’t take long for the team to identify the unsub. His name was Philip Hamilton and the women he had killed were surrogates for his older sister, Lilah. Both had been abused by their parents, but Lilah had managed to escape the worst of it by earning a college scholarship out of state. Philip, who had never left town, had graduated from petty crimes to murder when his sister had recently returned to town in order to take a job as a yoga instructor.

Hotch had split up the team in order to cover more ground. Morgan and Elle, along with a local police team, had been sent to Philip’s house. Gideon and another team of officers went to his workplace. And Spencer had apparently drawn the short straw, being assigned to accompany Aaron and a few more police officers to the fitness center where Lilah Hamilton worked. Which mostly meant he trailed behind Hotch, trying not to look out of place, as the older agent flashed his badge around.

“Dr. Rossi, don’t just stand around,” Hotch snapped after the third time Spencer accidentally got in his way. His expression softened when he saw the young man’s kicked-puppy eyes. “I mean, you don’t have to wait for me. Talk to the receptionist,” he suggested. “Ask him if Philip has been here before.” Spencer nodded and hurried off as Hotch went to go talk to another one of the fitness center employees.

Spencer approached the receptionist hesitantly. “Uh, hi,” he said, holding out his badge to the middle-aged man whose name tag identified him as Daniel Michelson. “My name is Dr. Spencer Rossi and I’m with the FBI. Would you mind answering a couple of questions for me?”

Daniel looked at the badge and then at the agent’s face. “You’re really with the FBI?” Spencer nodded. “Huh. Didn’t know they hired so young,” he remarked with a shrug. “What do you want to know?”

“Have you seen this man around here?” Spencer held out a photo of the unsub. “His name is Philip Hamilton.”

The receptionist frowned at the image. “I don’t recognize him,” he replied. “But he kind of reminds me of someone. I’m not sure who, though.”

“His sister, Lilah Hamilton, works here. She teaches yoga,” Spencer offered.

Michelson snapped his fingers. “Oh, yeah, that must be it!” He smiled fondly. “Lilah’s a great girl. Always helping out around here, even when it’s not her job. Everyone likes her.”

Spencer’s eyebrows raised. “Is she working here today?” he asked. “I think my supervisor will want to speak with her.”

“She should be here.” Daniel looked down at a schedule on his desk, then traced his finger down a column. “Yep. She has a class starting in just a few minutes.”

“Can you tell me where that would be?” Spencer asked.

Daniel nodded. “Yeah, actually, it’s not in this building, though. We have another studio down the street that’s used mostly for our yoga classes. If you go out this front door and turn left, you’ll see it in about four doors.”

“Got it,” he said. He looked around to see if he could find his boss, but the man was nowhere to be found. So with a sigh, Spencer opened up his cell phone and dialed Hotch’s number.

He picked up on the first ring. “SSA Aaron Hotchner,” the man said gruffly.

“Agent Hotchner, it’s, um, Dr. Rossi,” Spencer said. “I just talked to the receptionist and he said that Lilah Hamilton is currently teaching a yoga class a few buildings away.”

“I heard,” Aaron replied. “I’m already on my way to check it out now.”

Spencer’s heart sank slightly. He’d been hoping that he’d been the first to locate Lilah, that his discovery would help the case. But it turned out there was nothing Agent Hotchner didn’t already know. “Do you, uh, do you want me to join you?”

“No,” Hotch replied. “There was no sign of Hamilton at his house or work, and we’re thinking that he may be on his way to kill his sister right now. I want you to go to the car and stay there.”

“Oh, um, okay,” Spencer said. “Is it...safe?” He immediately wanted to kick himself for sounding so childish. “I mean, for the civilians. If the unsub is planning on coming here,” he added quickly, hoping his supervisor wouldn’t think he was scared.

“There are officers already stationed outside of both buildings, and they know what Hamilton looks like,” Hotch assured him. “Don’t worry about it.” Mercifully, he hung up before Spencer could ask any more embarrassing questions.

Spencer closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead for a moment. The case had started out so well, and he’d thought he’d earned Agent Hotchner’s approval. But now, of course, he’d just proven himself as a nervous new trainee who couldn’t be trusted to accompany the real agents on fieldwork.

He realized that the receptionist, Daniel, was still looking at him. Spencer quickly straightened up and did his best to collect himself. “Thank you for all your help, Mr. Michelson,” he said. He reached into his pocket and handed him one of Gideon’s business cards - he didn’t have his own yet. “If you see or remember anything, please call this number.”

Daniel Michelson nodded. He started to reach for the card, then froze. All the color drained out of his face as he stared over Spencer’s shoulder. “Agent?” he asked in a quiet voice. The man sunk back in his seat, terror shining in his eyes. “The man you’re looking for...he doesn’t have a tattoo on his shoulder, right?”

Spencer frowned as he pulled up a mental image of the unsub. The picture he’d been given didn’t show any ink, but Garcia had mentioned something about his credit card being used at a tattoo parlor recently. “He might,” the young agent replied. “Why?”

The receptionist gulped and let out a small whimper. “I, uh, I think he’s standing behind you.”

Spencer’s hand stopped an inch from his holster as the barrel of a gun pressed into his neck.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wouldn't it be simply awful if Philip Hamilton killed Spencer? I mean, I'm far too invested in this story to actually do that (although the angst writer in me wanted to try), but wouldn't that be just the worst twist? 
> 
> Anyways, thank you to everyone who's stuck around for this story. As you can tell, there's going to be some good action in the next chapter (and I promise it won't take me another four months to get written)!


	11. Proven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The hostage situation is resolved

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> see endnotes for content warnings

“What the hell happened?” Morgan demanded as he stormed up to the police chief. JJ and Elle both scrambled out of the car behind him. “Your men were supposed to be watching out for Hamilton!”

“Morgan,” Hotch warned. “It’s not his fault. We weren’t expecting Hamilton at the main building, either. There were only two officers stationed in front of the entrance.” Both officers had been assaulted by the unsub and were en route to the hospital with minor head injuries.

“Two officers who let a brand-new agent get taken hostage,” Derek snapped. “Or worse. We don’t know what happened to the kid; Hamilton might-”

“Dr. Rossi can take care of himself.” Morgan jumped and spun around to see Gideon standing behind him and looking significantly calmer than he felt. “Passing blame around isn’t going to help right now. We need to work on opening a line of communication with the unsub.”

“SWAT is less than five minutes out,” the police chief reported. “And we have crisis negotiation standing by on the phone.”

Aaron shook his head frustratedly. “SWAT had better get here fast,” he muttered. The unit chief turned to JJ. “How much does the media know?”

“They know that a round of shots was fired inside the building and that some number of hostages have been taken,” she replied.

“Do they know that there’s an FBI agent in there?” Morgan asked. JJ shook her head.

“Good,” Gideon said. “There’s a possibility that Hamilton doesn’t know that Dr. Rossi is an agent. We don’t want to give him any more leverage than he already has.”

“No matter what, they cannot release his identity,” Hotch added. JJ nodded her understanding just as a SWAT truck pulled up.

They watched as SWAT officers spilled from the vehicle. One man, who seemed to be in charge, spotted the BAU and jogged straight over to them. “Agent Hotchner?” the man asked.

“Captain Williams,” Hotch greeted him. They shook hands. “These are Agents Gideon, Morgan, Greenaway, and Jareau.”

“It’s good to see you again. I wish it were under different circumstances,” Williams said. “I understand you have an agent inside the building?”

“His name is Agent Rossi.” Noticing the captain’s raised eyebrow, he quickly added, “Spencer Rossi.”

“Dr. Rossi,” Gideon countered.

“He’s twenty-two years old and has no field experience,” Morgan muttered, ignoring the glares that both Hotch and Gideon gave him. Someone had to be looking out for the kid, chain of command be damned.

The SWAT captain frowned when he heard this. “And you haven’t been able to make contact or get eyes on the inside?”

Hotch shook his head. “We’ve only been able to catch a few glimpses of Hamilton through the windows.”

“So for all we know, he’s already murdered all the hostages,” Williams said.

“No,” Greenaway said. “If everyone was dead, he would have killed himself or turned himself in.”

“The fact that he hasn’t tried to negotiate with us means that there’s something happening on the inside,” Gideon pointed out. “I strongly believe it’s because Dr. Rossi is already working with him to defuse the situation.”

“Or he could just be an unstable man who’s already killed five women and trying to figure out how to kill more,” the captain said. “Given the facts, we have to assume that your agent is dead or at least incapacitated.” JJ flinched at his bluntness, and Derek bit his lip. Even Elle looked upset. “I believe the best course of action would be for my men to breach as soon as possible.”

“You would go in blind?” Greenaway asked worriedly. The SWAT captain nodded.

Gideon shook his head. “You don’t know what Dr. Rossi is capable of,” he replied. “He’s a brilliant young man with an extensive understanding of human psychology. And he has the only weapon he needs - an accurate profile of the unsub.”

“But Agent Rossi has no practical experience with this kind of situation,” Morgan argued. “We need to intervene as soon as possible.”

“I’m inclined to agree with Agent Morgan,” the SWAT leader said. “Regardless of how smart this kid is, we have no reason to believe that he’s even still alive. We need to focus on getting the civilians out. Agent Rossi can’t be relied on to defuse the situation.”

“His father wrote the book on hostage negotiation and taught the course at the Academy for years,” Jason responded. “_Dr_. Rossi knows it like the back of his hand. You have to give him more time.”

“I don’t care how many times he’s read the handbook,” Morgan snapped. “He’s a goddamn child who’s never been in the field before and he’s going to get killed if we don’t do something!”

“If he’s already building a rapport with the unsub and we storm the place, people will die,” Gideon argued.

“Building a rapport? We’re not seriously going to treat him like he’s been trained for this,” Derek said incredulously.

“He has,” Gideon replied. “His father-”

_“Hostage negotiation isn’t fucking hereditary, Gideon!”_

“Morgan, take a walk,” Hotch said sternly. He’d been so silent that everyone had almost forgotten he was there. Morgan gaped at his unit chief before shaking his head and storming off. “Captain Williams, please give us a minute before making any decisions. I need to talk to Agent Gideon.” Jason let himself be pulled aside, away from the other law enforcement officers.

“You have to trust Dr. Rossi,” Gideon insisted as soon as they were out of earshot. “He’s not like any other agent, Aaron. He understands crisis negotiation better than anyone here and he’ll figure out a way to defuse the situation. We can’t undermine him.”

Hotch sighed, rubbing his forehead tensely. “I don’t trust him, Jason. I don’t even know him,” he replied. “But I know I can trust you.”

Gideon let out a breath of relief. “Thank you,” he said.

“Tell me again that we’re doing the right thing by waiting.”

“I know I’m right, Aaron,” Gideon said.

Hotch swallowed hard, then nodded. “I’ll buy more time with Captain Williams.”

-

JJ, Morgan, and Greenaway huddled together as they watched Hotch and Gideon talk. “There’s no way Hotch is going to let us sit around, right?” asked JJ anxiously. “He has to do something.”

“He was SWAT,” Elle pointed out. “He knows how dangerous a takedown can be.”

“So you think he should just wait?” Morgan asked. He crossed his arms. “And give everyone in there more time with an unstable serial killer?”

“I don’t know what we should do, Derek.” Greenaway glanced at the building, then at Hotch and Gideon. “I just want everybody to get out safely.”

“We all do,” JJ said gently. They watched silently as Hotch and Gideon spoke to Captain Williams. They clearly argued for several minutes before the SWAT leader finally gave a reluctant nod. He walked away to his officers, who were strapping on equipment, and started to say something to them.

Hotch approached the group, who were suddenly very interested in looking anywhere but at him. “We’re going to try to make contact one more time. If that doesn’t work, SWAT will be-”

He was interrupted by an unmistakable sound. Gunfire inside the building. Aaron drew his weapon and started to run, knowing the rest of his team would be right behind him. They made it three steps towards the building.

“Stop! There’s movement!” someone shouted suddenly. Everyone froze as they watched a hand push the door open. A burly blond man stepped through, and Hotch’s heart sank. It was Philip Hamilton. And if he was coming out, it meant that his mission had been accomplished.

“No,” he heard Morgan mutter softly beside him. The younger agent shook his head despondently, running a hand over his head as two officers cuffed the unsub. “No, no, no, no - _oh my God!_”

Behind Hamilton stumbled Spencer, looking disoriented but very much alive. He squinted as he looked around, seeming surprised by how many SWAT and police officers were stationed in the street.

“Spencer!” Gideon materialized by the young man’s side and grabbed his shoulders, examining him for injuries. “Are you hurt?”

Spencer blinked at him a few times. “Are you hurt?” he echoed. He was quiet for a moment as he processed the question. Then he shook his head. “The hostages are inside. They’re safe.” He tried to take a step forward and pitched straight into the ground.

Gideon caught him before he landed flat on his face. “Whoa,” he cautioned. “I’ve got you.” He helped Spencer sit down on the curb. “Just breathe.” Jason rubbed Spencer’s back and shoulders as he rocked back and forth with his head down and hands firmly pressed over his ears. Gideon could tell the SWAT agents were judging Spencer’s stims as they passed by, but he ignored them. The young man had just convinced an armed serial killer to turn himself in without a single casualty. He didn’t owe anyone an explanation for his behavior.

“Hey, look,” Gideon said. Police officers were helping civilians out of the building. “You saved those people.” How he’d done that, Gideon wasn’t exactly sure, but he wasn’t going to ask Spencer. Not yet, at least. “You did really good, kid.”

“Well,” Spencer blurted out. He lifted his head to watch the hostages walk away and let his hands fall from his ears. “You did really well, kid.”

Jason chuckled. “Right.” He patted the younger agent on the shoulder. “Are you ready to get checked out by the medics, or do you need a little more time?”

“I don’t want a medic,” Spencer replied. He still wasn’t looking at Gideon, but his breathing had slowed to a more normal pace. “I’m fine. I just need a minute.”

“You can take all the time you need, kid. But then you’re going to get checked over by someone. It’s standard procedure,” he informed Spencer. “Your father would kill me if I let it slide.” Then he hesitated. “Come to think of it, he’s going to kill me anyway when he finds out I let you get taken hostage on your first case.”

This made Spencer smile slightly. “I’ll tell him it wasn’t your fault. You weren’t even here.”

“Don’t worry, he’ll kill Hotch, too,” Gideon replied. He looked up to see the dark-haired man striding toward them. “Speaking of which…”

Spencer stilled, watching with apprehension as his supervisor approached. He clasped his hands and set them on his lap to stop himself from stimming, and sat up straight so he wouldn’t rock.

“Dr. Rossi,” he greeted him, dark eyes full of concern. “You had us worried.”

The young agent quickly averted his gaze. “I’m sorry, sir,” he replied meekly. “I wasn’t paying enough attention to the entrance and-“

“Dr. Rossi!” Hotch interrupted sharply. He instantly fell silent. “I’m not mad.”

Spencer snuck a glance at his unit chief. “You’re not?”

“You couldn’t have known what Hamilton was planning,” Hotch replied. “It was my fault that there weren’t more guards in front of the building. I wanted to apologize for that.”

“Apologize?” Spencer echoed.

Hotch shook his head. “I shouldn’t have left you without backup. It was my fault, and I’m sincerely sorry for putting you in danger. I want to make it very clear that this is not typical for BAU cases, and I will do everything in my power to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

“It’s okay,” Spencer said. “No one got hurt.”

“You’ll have to fill me in on how you managed that,” Aaron said.

“Of course, sir,” Spencer replied quickly. “I can get my report to you by-“

“Not so fast,” Hotch said. “I want you to take some time off. You’ve been through a lot for any agent, let alone a new one. I don’t want you coming back until you’re ready.”

Spencer opened his mouth to protest but Gideon interrupted him. “Thank you, Aaron,” he said. “I can take Dr. Rossi home.” He shot Spencer a pointed look. “_After_ he gets checked out by a medic.”

-

JJ, Derek, and Elle watched from a distance as Gideon helped Spencer walk shakily towards the ambulance parked nearby. The profilers wanted nothing more than to run up to him and ask what had happened inside the building, but they held back. It was obvious Spencer was crashing hard after the case. They’d all been there before. 

“Poor kid,” JJ remarked. “I feel so bad for him.”

“It’s a shame,” Elle chimed in as a paramedic checked Spencer’s pupils with a flashlight. “I think he would’ve done well on the team.” 

Morgan looked at her in confusion. “What?”

“Come on, Derek,” Greenaway said. “Kid got held up by a serial killer on his second day out of the academy. There’s no way in hell we’re ever going to see him again.” JJ nodded in agreement.

He hadn’t even thought of that. “Oh.” 

“Still, whatever he did was incredible,” she remarked. “I understand why Gideon brought him on the team.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> content warning for a (very) brief mention of suicide and some discussion of murder (but no actual murder)
> 
> a/n: I realize Gideon comes off as somewhat OOC in this chapter when he basically advocates for leaving Reid alone with a serial killer. This isn't because I'm bashing him; I just based most of this off of "LDSK" and "Third Life" which were very different situations. I'm going to keep him as consistent as possible from here on out. So please don't think that Gideon is a reckless, irresponsible guy in this fic. 
> 
> So I know I didn't exactly explain what Spencer did to get Hamilton to surrender. This is mainly because after spending hours studying FBI hostage negotiation tactics, I still couldn't get some details right (partially because I did a poor job of setting up this case leading up to this). However, I am willing to try again. If at least fifteen people comment saying that they'd like to see what happened, I'll take another shot at writing what happened with the hostages and post it as a one-shot. Otherwise, you can look forward to the next chapter including Rossi (David) being a protective dad and screaming at everyone when he finds out his son almost got killed during his first case.
> 
> Fun Facts: This chapter brought me to over 100k words posted on AO3. And I also have a Tumblr now (@jet-plane), so let me know if you also have a fanfiction/CM-related blog and I'll follow you!  
Thank you for reading!


End file.
